Why is our Code of Values™ Important?

Culture & sense of purpose guide how any DreamMaker Christian franchise does business

DreamMaker is a Christian franchise that puts people first. We believe that if you treat people with respect and integrity, profits follow. The company’s Code of Values™ is central to who we are and the way we try to conduct ourselves in business and in life. The Code of Values™ is not just something that hangs on the wall. We have a system for keeping the Code of Values™ in place. It’s a living, breathing philosophy based on Biblical principles. We know that it is impossible to live them perfectly, but you can live them with excellence — meaning when you miss one, you are willing to be held accountable in a respectful way.

Tracy Moore, who owns the DreamMaker in Winston-Salem, N.C., with longtime friend Erik Anderson, says of their franchise investigation process with DreamMaker: “When they emailed us the Code of Values™, it was a huge ‘wow.’ Erik and I have always said you need to do the right thing even when people aren’t looking, and DreamMaker expressed that in such an eloquent way. And they live those values.”

The Code of Values™, as well as our Vision and Mission statements, inform the way DreamMaker franchisees treat customers, and they inform the way that we treat franchisees.

For example, at our 2013 DreamMaker Reunion (we don’t call it a convention, because our bonds and friendships make us a family), Chief Stewarding Officer and President Doug Dwyer shared the internal theme to guide DreamMaker corporate staff and franchisees for the year: Focus on Family.

“It’s about doing the best for your immediate family, your extended family, your business family, your customer family, and your community family,” Doug explains. In 2012, after praying about the issue, Doug says God led him toward focusing on family. To him, that meant one thing: “You serve your franchisees and their families, your employees and their families, your customers and their families.”

The prayer led him to a verse, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (NIV)

“And I thought, wow, that is like our Code of Values™. If you can live that out, day in and day out, we will be a christian franchise company people want to work with,” he says.

And that’s what has happened in the marketplace. In a 2012 survey, we asked our franchisees the factors that led customers to choose DreamMaker over other remodelers. The top answers, by far: relationships, design ideas tailored to the customer, the respectful sales process, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and the Code of Values™.

Customers know they are being cared for — they sense it in our approach, and they like that we hold ourselves accountable to these values, which we share with our clients:

Code of Values™

We believe…

in superior service to our customers, our community and to each other as members of the DreamMaker team.

in counting our blessings every day in every way.

success is the result of clear, cooperative, positive thinking.

that loyalty adds meaning to our lives.

management should seek out and recognize what people are doing right, and treat every associate with respect.

challenges should be used as learning experiences.

our Creator put us on this earth to succeed. We will accept our daily successes humbly, knowing that a higher power is guiding us.

in the untapped potential of every human being. Every person we help achieve their potential fulfills our mission.

we must re-earn our positions every day in every way.

in building our country through the free enterprise system. We demonstrate this belief by continually attracting strong people to the DreamMaker team.

We live our Code of Values™ by…

Respect

treating others as we would like to be treated.

listening with the intent to understand what is being said and acknowledging that what is said is important to the speaker.

responding in a timely fashion.

speaking calmly and respectfully, without profanity or sarcasm.

acknowledging everyone as right from their own perspective.

Integrity

making only agreements we are willing, able and intend to keep.

communicating any potentially broken agreements at the first appropriate opportunity to all parties concerned.

looking to the system for correction and proposing all possible solutions if something is not working.

operating in a responsible manner: “above the line…”

communicating honestly and with purpose.

asking clarifying questions if we disagree or do not understand.

never saying anything about anyone that we would not say to him or her.